Luna collective makes Milwaukee's Latina artists visible

Mariah Villegas (right) takes part in a discussion with Latina artists at Chicken Palace on W. National Ave. The meeting was set up to discuss making Latina artists more visible in Milwaukee art scene.(Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Some members make political art. Others don’t. But the creation of the Latinas Unidas en las Artes collective, or Luna, has been a political act.

“This is about visibility and about taking up space,” says Katie Loughmiller, an artist, writer, educator and a program coordinator at the Mitchell Street Library. “We are here. If you want to ignore individuals, go right ahead, but you can’t ignore a group of us.”

After a year of gathering, sharing experiences and supporting one another as artists, the Luna collective has organized its inaugural show, featuring several Latina artists who’ve never exhibited or sold work.

The group’s genesis can be traced back to a car ride home from an art event when Loughmiller, relatively new to Milwaukee, asked Gabriela Riveros, who grew up in the area, a question: “Where are all of the Latina artists in Milwaukee?”

The two women talked about why Latina artists seemed to be underrepresented in the city, particularly when it comes to opportunities such as residencies, fellowships, exhibits and art-related jobs. Some area arts administrators let themselves off the hook by suggesting that Latinas do not come forward or apply for opportunities, Loughmiller says.

“If you want to find artists of color, you have to do the work,” she says, adding that local organizations tend to rely on predominantly white networks. “You have to ask, who is on that email list? If you actually trace that back, you’ll find that it is mostly white artists.”

In one evening, Loughmiller and Riveros put together their own list of Latina artists and shot off a Facebook message asking if they were interested in forming a group. Responses rolled in readily, so they reserved space at Woodland Pattern for a first meeting, about a year ago.

Many of the women who attended that first gathering didn’t know each other well. The meeting began quite formally, with each person suggesting what they might want from a collective of Latina artists, but it quickly evolved into a free flowing sharing of common experiences, of venting, validating and laughing.

Gabriela Riveros attends the August meeting of Latina artists. The group gathers about once a month.(Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

“We all had the same stories,” says Riveros, an artist and designer for Kohl’s. Riveros is also a DJ who organizes reggaeton dance parties, featuring Puerto Rican music that’s a blend of hip-hop, rap and Latin American rhythms.

Luna meets about once a month now, often at a local restaurant such as La Michoacana (inside Chicken Palace, 3433 W National Ave.). Many members, though not all, have lived in the area much of their lives, and their ages range from 18 to forty-something. The focus has been mostly on enjoying each other and offering encouragement and support, though there has been increased energy around more public-facing events and actions.

Now that they know one another’s work, members are also able to talk each other up and spread the word about relevant art-related opportunities. Many of the group’s illustrators, for instance, were encouraged to work with Riverwest FemFest, the annual festival featuring female and femme-identifying artists, because of the group’s connections.

Some members, like Teresa Cano, starting making more work.

“Her paintings are beautiful,” Loughmiller says, “and I think that this group helped her kind of get back into it. She told us, after a few meetings, ‘I’m painting again.’”

When it came time to create their own show, they considered how many members had never put work on a wall and gravitated toward a radically open approach, inviting all members to participate.

“The reason we started this collective is we wanted to give each other visibility,” says Riveros, who had never organized an art show before. “If you want to show your work, you should be able to show your work...We believe that.”

They expected a quiet opening at Muse 33, a visual and performing arts venue in West Allis, with maybe 30 people showing up over the course of a few hours. They figured each member would come with a plus-one. It was the same night as the Riverwest24, the around-the-clock bike ride and a magnet for many in the art community.

Within the first hour, though, the gallery was jammed, with people spilling out onto the sidewalk on a hot July night. As many as 200 people turned up, Loughmiller estimates.

“We started this wondering if we could even collect these people,” Riveros says.

“There is a safety that we all feel that has only strengthened through the show and even through the aftermath, with everybody posting things and showing that support for each other,” says Loughmiller. “We showed up for each other.”

For more information about Luna, email lunaartesmke@gmail.com or get in touch via Instagram at @lunamkeofficial. A closing reception for the inaugural exhibit will be held Saturday at Muse 33, 5916 W. Burnham St., West Allis, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art critic. Connect with her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or email her at mschumacher@journalsentinel.com.

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